BRC A Grade
100% Recycled Packaging
Red Tractor approved
High Welfare 100% UK Sourcing
Sustainable By-Product
1.31 kg of Co2 per kg
What is Legghorn?
Legghorn mince is a blend of 420 day old Breeder hen thigh meat and the pluck from the bird. The pluck is an old term for the offal, we use the hearts, livers and gizzards. The thighs produce a rich, tasty mince that can be used to make meatballs, koftas, laab, dumplings and any ragu based dish, just as they did in traditional Italian cookery.
Nothing goes to waste
We work with the NOBLE FOODS to source the thigh meat of their Breeder hens, as they currently go to waste. We both share the principle that we have to make 100% use of all possible food resources in the UK, to reduce our reliance on imported food and to reduce the environmental impact of the food we eat.
Banging taste
Breeder hens are the prized parents of the egg layers and the broiler chickens we eat in the UK. The meat has an incredible flavour because the birds live for over a year, which is unlocked by tenderising the meat.
Chefs are into it
We have chefs across the culinary board using Legghorn mince; from Japanese Koya to Italian Nessa and Mortimer House, from Burger specialists Whole Beast in Peckham to zero waste restaurant Silo, from Fooditude to Baxter Storey.
It’s tasty
Breeder Hen meat is a by-product of the chickens we eat. As such, our carbon footprint is 1.31kg CO₂/kg.
What chefs have to say.
Our story.
In 2019, after 13 years running Murray’s Fresh Fish and Foodchain, I created a campaign called Feast Fairly with the Refettorio Felix in London. For one month we challenged chefs to create dishes using under utilised, unloved and forgotten foods with £1 from every dish sold being donated to the Refettorio.
We were blown away by the chefs’ enthusiasm for our basket of wonderful by-products and discards, raising close to £8,000 in the process. Class B asparagus, pullet eggs, salmon bellies, pigs hearts, the list goes on but there was one product that caught the eye. Chefs marvelled at the flavour of the spent hen meat and my fascination with poultry by-products began (not something i thought i’d ever say).
Legghorn borek
Legghorn and black bean loaded nachos
Legghorn Ramen
Haggis spiced bon-bon
Kofta salad with salsa verde & kefir dressing
Italian Meatballs
Inspiration from our chefs.
Richard Murray
Fred
Jack And Will
Our Breeder hens.
Our Breeder hen farms are small with just 36,000 birds on site, producing fertile eggs for hatching into the free range broiler chickens and free range eggs we eat. For example, Marks & Spencer chickens are the offspring of our breeders.
Breeder hens are selected for their strengths in egg production and immunity, playing a crucial role in the egg and chicken industry. The Breeder hens are incredibly valuable to farmers and, as a result, are kept to the highest welfare standards. Breeder hens are kept to the same density as free range chickens and are accredited to the Red Tractor scheme. Our farms are the cleanest farms I have ever visited. Biosecurity is the number one risk to farmers, with avian flu being so prevalent.
Breeder hens are antibiotic free and are only vaccinated for Salmonella and Newcastle disease.
As the primary purpose of the Breeder hens is producing eggs, the carbon footprint is in the offspring. Therefore, by replacing your usual mince with Legghorn mince you are greatly reducing your carbon footprint.
Up until now Breeder hen meat has been under-appreciated, we’re on a mission to change that.
Get in touch
- Corringham Rd, Gainsborough DN21 1QH
- richard@legghorn.com